Nano Biscotte Fries Another SD Card

[redeyejedi]

Ok this is starting to piss me off. My NB saber worked fine until the 30th day and my 1st SD Card was currupted. I posted a thread and figured out all the does and don'ts for SD card management. I ordered a new SD card from the shop and it worked fine until tonight. The battery in my saber died and then it wouldn't turn on at all. I charged it. No boot sound when taken off the charger. No sound at all. Tryed another SD card and it worked fine, but the one that was in the saber is totally fried. My computer wont even read it.

I have purchased 2 SD Cards in the last 3 weeks and now I'm down to 1, with 2 dead(including my original card).

When my saber needs to be charged the sound goes off while the saber is on, the LED stays ON for a couple of seconds then goes OFF and I hear the boot sound. Is that normal?

My experience with sound boards is limited, but I've wired a Force Action econo board, 2 Hasbro 2010 econo boards, a Hasbro FX with Removable Blade board, and now the Nano Biscotte.

I wired my saber exactly as the owners manual instucts and all me soldering is clean and contained to the specific pads. In the saber I have the board mounted in the NB chasis disc and have Heat Shrink covering the entire board(not shrunk, but covering).

I'm using:
-3.7v 18650 Lithium ion batteries(with PCB)
-Rebel Star Green
-High quailty recharge port
-2w bass speaker
-non illuminated AV mometary switch

I don't want to have to buy a SD card every other week or every other time I have to charge my saber. It's 3:17am and I'm turining to the darkside over this. Seems like econo boards are more reliable at this point.

Any Ideas would be great. Thanks.

[Silver Serpent]

That sounds odd. I'd like to see pictures of the wiring going to your recharge port. Something sounds a bit off.

[Skottsaber]

Are you sure your SD card holder is not shorting out on your hilt somewhere?

[redeyejedi]

Here's some pic's. The board is positioned inside a 3" extension below the switch. A short choke part screws into the 3" extension with a trim ring between the parts. Every thing is wired using quick connectors. Battery to recharge port and port to board.

[redeyejedi]

Are you sure your SD card holder is not shorting out on your hilt somewhere?

I'm not sure about that. Its strange that it only has happend twice and only happens randomly when the batteries need to be charged. I don't understand how it happens. Is my saber acting normal when the battery needs charging, by shutting off the sound, then light, and replaying the boot sound?

[Silver Serpent]

Lightsabers tend to get all manner of strange behaviors when the batteries are low. It's the first thing I recommend to check if a saber is acting up.

It sounds like something bad is happening during the charging process. I'm thinking that either the recharge port isn't correctly cutting power to the board when recharging, or the recharge port is shorting out to the hilt and it's getting back to the board somehow. I might be wrong, but that's the first place I'd start looking.

[redeyejedi]

Thanks for the input. I checked the recharge port and it is ok. I put electrical tape around the whole thing(on top of the heat shrink). I also put some electrical tape on the bottom of the short choke part, just in case it is shorting the SD card slot somehow. If this ever happens again, I'll be right back on this thread trying to figure it out. I hope I just got 2 bad SD cards in a row and this will be the end of it.

[Caine Drathul]

Never heat shrink your board in any way shape or form because that will eventually fry it. The board needs to breathe.

I strongly suggest taking that heat shrink off ASAP and replacing it with a thin layer of plastic tubing (buy it in the florescent light section at the hardware store)

[Silver Serpent]

Well, he did indicate that the heat shrink wasn't shrunk, but just loosely set over it. The heat shrink is unnecessary anyhow, since he's using chassis discs.

I'd love to see some up-close photos of your solder joints, to see how much wire is exposed.

[Ari-Jaq Xulden]

$20 says its the switch. Double check those bare wires and terminals. My wager says you used the screw terminals and left those bare wires/terminals touching something thereby causing a ground fault.

Edit: Try removing the switch entirely from the NB. Shrink cover those leads and try a charge, if it works that is your culprit. Not 100%, but I believe you can charge w/o the SD present.